'Tis the Season!

Mary

We hung the stars you made for me on the Christmas tree tonight. All of us sat in the couch wrapped in one of the many blankets you crocheted over the years.

And we talked.

I did most of the talking. And it was mostly about you. How kind you were, how happy you were, how gracefully you aged. I'm not sure I ever saw you upset. Although I didn't belong to you by blood, you were everything a grandmother should have been....so very proud of each of your grandchildren!

The kids remember your apartment and the cookies you gave them...and sent them home with:) They remember the lollipops in the nursing home. I remember your smile, your laugh and your heart. There is not a person on earth you couldn't befriend! And your cooking...I can still smell that chocolate cake you would bake for Thom each year on his birthday. Such a fearless, fun loving woman! I can only hope to have half of your spirit!

Your passing has made me reflect on so many things. All the cliches ring true: life is short, make the most of it. But your life wasn't short. It was rich and full and I will keep a piece of you in my heart always.

I love you.

Thanksgiving Break

I had originally taken the week of Thanksgiving off so that we could travel to New York to be with my family, but a trip for five one month before Christmas was not the best idea financially. So we did a fun stay-cation!

We began our Thankgiving break with Thomas playing a double header. He loves playing football and he is really good:) The playoffs are next weekend and Thomas will get to try out quarterback for a couple of plays.

We headed over to spend some time with Papa and Gigi too. The kiddos had a night to themselves and then I joined them. Thomas had the whole neighborhood playing football with him:)


We came back to Orlando just in time to spend Thanksgiving at my MIL's with some of Tony's family. The kiddos always have fun with their cousins.



Tony was given Car Show tickets so we decided to check that out. Leave it to Stella to find the only animal at a car show:)



The kids took a test drive in their new Christmas gifts....






We also saw Wreck It Ralph over break. James sat through his very first movie!! The movie was so cute and all the kiddos loved it.


And so tomorrow the routine begins again and the Christmas season will be upon us. (Yay!!!!)

I'm Thankful For...

My silly, happy and beautiful family. It's all I ever wanted in life and I'm so blessed to be a wife and a mama to these crazy characters.

Down on the Farm

Every year we go to Green Meadows Petting Farm around this time of year. The kids love it. And this year was extra sweet because it was Baby Joss' first time. Pony rides, trains rides, holding a baby duck and baby chick, feeding pigs and goats....the kids loved it!
 

Thirty Nine

Thirty nine.

This is what thirty nine looks like for me:

A wife for over nine years.

A mother of three.

A daughter. A sister. A friend.

Overwhelmed, overworked and abundantly blessed.

Confident and secure, silly, cautious.

Fiscally conservative and socially liberal. And sometimes vice versa.

Complicated.

A work in progress but happy with the foundation.

Thirty nine is what I always wanted: my family, my friends that are family, my beautiful life.

Perfectly imperfect.

Happy Birthday to me!

2005:

bumblebees

2006:

princess


fireman

2007:

Dorothy


motorcycle

2008:

super twins!

2009:

a ninja, butterfly and a horse

2010:

a werewolf, mermaid and a cow

2011:

a vampiress, an egg and a Jawa

2012:

a mad hatter, Ash from Pokeman, a fireman and an itty bitty ghost